40 weeks

 

Well, my 40th week was an eventful one.  Before the end came, I'd delivered a baby!

Here he is: my 9lb, 9oz, 20inch long Chunky Monkey 

But let me start at the beginning. 

My 40th week began and ended with a visit with my midwife.  At my first visit I weighed 205lbs and by my second I was up to 206.  That brought my entire pregnancy weight gain up to 29lbs which is 21 less than what I gained with Bunny.  

My uterus measured 39cm both visits and I was 1cm dilated and 50% effaced for both visits.  For my Thursday visit, it was the first time and left me very hopeful.  On my Monday visit, it meant no change, which was discouraging.  

For my first visit, my midwife said that Monkey was 7lbs, maybe close to 8lbs.  For my second visit she said he was definitely at least 8lbs.  I was hopeful that he was going to be smaller than Bunny.  In fact, most of the pregnancy I was really excited because I was sure that would be the case based on my weight gain and the predictions of my midwife.  

I had a lot of low pressure in my butt and tailbone, and sometimes in the front.  

I had more painful and frequent contractions most of the time--except over the weekend when I was stressing about the possibility of having to check my sugars again and get a weight check ultrasound.   The doctors called Rosie to pressure her about that on Friday before I delivered and I stressed about it to the point of depression until my visit with her on Monday.  I'll get into that more when I post my birth story, though. 

That was as far as my pregnancy progressed.  

On Monday evening, after I gave my worry to the Lord, I started--almost immediately--experiencing contractions 10 min apart.  They were slightly painful at first, and lasted throughout the night, increasing in pain level but not really in frequency or duration.  The frequency didn't increase until maybe 6 or 7am.  Maybe not until 8am because Rosie told us to come in around 9am on Tuesday morning and we left at 9:30. 

I lost my mucus plug throughout the night from Monday into Tuesday.  It started at 9:30pm and I was hopeful but realistic.  

By 9:30 when we left the house, my contractions were about 2-3 minutes apart, coming fast but still not lasting long.  They were painful enough that I had to breathe through them.  

We dropped Bunny off at a friend's house at 9:45am and were in the hospital room by 10am.  From about 10-11:30 or 12 I progressed 2-3cm to 4cm.  The time frame is lost on me after this point because all I remember is pain and ridiculously strong contractions that eventually gave me no break.  I started acting like I was going into transition a lot earlier than I thought I could be and at some point here my water broke as I was being monitored and as the contractions were bringing me to a point of delirium.  I was checked maybe 10 or 15 minutes after being found at 7cm and it was time to push.  I pushed through 4-6 contractions (8 minutes) and Monkey was out with a slippery slide.  

His cord was cut after a minute of letting it finish pulsating and then he was put on my chest skin to skin and a blanket was put over him.  As soon as I got my bearings I immediately tried to nurse him but he just wasn't interested for at least a half hour.  I'd try and he'd just flop around my nipple so I'd let it go and just talk to him and look at him.  All the while, I was getting stitched up and my belly was being pressed hard to tighten my uterus and push out any blood clots.  Then, he nursed--actually he was nursing when they pushed out the blood clots--and Rosie said she wanted a good 10 minutes of nursing from him or she'd have to put me on Pitocin to make my uterus contract.  She never did have to do that.  Once he caught on, we were good. 

The second time he nursed I did have to sort of teach him again and Rosie came over and helped me as well.  Then, it was smooth sailing as all he wanted to do from that point on was nurse and nurse and nurse.  Almost immediately, sucking was his favorite way to self soothe.  

Monkey barely opened his eyes while in the hospital.  He opened one eye when he was born and then once or twice when he was nursing just for a moment.  There was just so much fat and skin around his eyes that it must have taken deep effort. 

He also liked to be nursed so much that I couldn't get him to go to sleep while we were in the hospital so I sent him to the nursery so the nurses could take care of him and I could sleep.  I didn't sleep well anyway, thinking of a new baby in the other room, but I needed a half decent shot at sleep since we were going to be on our own the second night of his life. 

As mentioned before, he's a really good nurser, though he has what Rosie calls a "lazy latch."  Bunny latched the same way, which explains why my nipples hurt like crazy for the first two months of her life.  

He pooped a couple of times and peed for the nurses in the morning.  

Apparently he fussed and wiggled most of the night for the nurses.  They brought him in to be fed around midnight and then he slept for them the rest of the night.  I wish I would have known because I would have kept him with me in that case.  

He's a calm baby--calmer and quieter than Bunny. 

His cry is squeaky and very high, but we didn't hear it often.  

He weighed 9lb 5.6 oz when the pediatrician checked on him before we were all discharged. 

His sugars stayed at a good level the whole time he was there.  They were on the low end of good, but he didn't need any special care. 

We didn't circumcise him in the hospital.  We're going to wait to do that in the OB/GYN office.  He has an appointment for the 16th of this month.  

His sister absolutely adores him and we're looking forward to starting our lives as a family of four.  

Welcome, little man! You are so, very loved!!!

 

37 weeks

Total Weight gain-21 lbs

Belly measuring on target.

The baby is head down and about 6lbs

I'm actually slowly starting to feel better.

Rosie agreed I don't have to test my sugar anymore!

Gum has been helping me to digest better and to calm the acid reflux that happens in the mornings.

Saturday I went yard sale shopping, did lots of cleaning and sewing, packed our hospital bags, and did laundry, dishes, and dinner.  Also, I wasn't hydrating like I should have been.  All this gave me lots of contractions--more than 5 an hour--that didn't go away when I rested.  So, I had to call Rosie.  She told me to drink a quart of water and to lie down on my left side.  Meanwhile, Bunny was certain that we were going to the hospital that evening to have the baby because of all the baby preparations and the phone call to Rosie that she overheard.  Thankfully, Dave had just gotten home because I couldn't have dealt with her otherwise.  She was literally bouncing off the walls, and on the bed where I was trying to rest (and the contractions were coming every few minutes at this point) and I just couldn't calm her down without exacerbating the situation.  Meanwhile, I'm sitting there thinking about how my grades weren't done, the curtains on the baby's closet weren't sewn, and I hadn't altered my friend's bridesmaid dress.  That, and the baby was still premature at 36 weeks and I didn't want to risk him coming early.  I told Bunny, "Honey, I don't think we're going to the hospital tonight."  She responded,
"Please, Mommy, PLEASE! I want to go NOW!"  (she had grabbed more stuff to throw into her "hospital" bag). 
"Baby, Don't take it up with me.  I don't decide when the baby comes.  You'll have to talk to God about that." 
She walked into the hall, and excitedly prayed that God would let us go to the hospital that night and then hollered, "He said yes, Mommy! God said yes!"  Later, after I'd followed Rosie's instructions and was down to only 4 contractions in the hour, I told Bunny that we weren't going to the hospital that night.  "But Mommy, God said yes!" she responded.  When Dave finally put her to bed (she'd continued to run around the house like an excited little jumping bean throughout the duration of the hour) she laid awake for about 1.5 hours.  She was quiet and good about it, but obviously too excited to sleep.  When we woke up the next morning, I told her I was sorry that the baby didn't come the night before but that he would come soon.  In church, as Dave and a friend walked the kids to Children's Church, she told the friend, "The baby didn't come last night."  The whole ordeal--though a bit scary--was really quite funny.  I remember how me and my siblings would go crazy when we thought it was time for my mom to go to the hospital.  I feel badly, now, contributing to that.  Bunny was a handful and she is only one child.  I am sure that 3-6 of us getting into a frenzy like that must have been a lot for my poor mom to handle as she went into labor each time!

My breathing is better.  There were a couple of days there where I felt that I didn't have room to breathe, but that went away. 

My maternity capris are tight. They weren't with Bunny and I was bigger with her, so all I can think is that this baby is lower. 

36 weeks

The baby's room is almost done. It's ready for him. 

Backaches continue in the evenings.

Contractions continue if I do lots of errands or housework. 

My digestion issues are on and off. Some days I can eat cookies and some days not. Whatever. 

A lot just stays the same. 

I'm having a more difficult time not waddling. I don't have to do it until my lower back starts hurting. Usually, the waddle starts at the end of the day, when I'm having a contraction, or if I've eaten too much and/or need to pee. 

Not sure how we're gonna get enough clothes for Asher, but we're trusting God. :-) At least he'll be born when it's hot. He can just hang around naked! 

Bunny is SO helpful and I'm often snappy with her. I hate that! 

Really achy at night

35 weeks

Getting more Braxton hicks while sitting and lying still.

Regular backaches.  Lower back. They go away by morning and are also relieved by the birthing ball.

The baby's not kicking as much, but still moving a lot and sometimes it's quite painful. I think he's running out of room.

34 Weeks

I finally had some sugar (and chocolate) this week and it's not all it's cracked up to be.  I feel better if I stick to the low carb diet--other than the fruit restriction which I am now ignoring.

My acid reflux is back.  I switched back to Protonix yesterday.  I wonder if I'm just going to have to keep switching between Zantac and Protonix for the duration of this pregnancy.

I'm starting to feel really big and it's getting harder to move around, especially getting out of bed at night or rolling over. Every time I get out of bed during the middle of the night, the exertion causes a contraction.  However, the number of Braxton Hicks has gone down since I recognized that their frequency was due to not enough fluid intake.

I've been having a low backache this week, that is soothed by the birthing ball.

If I skip my afternoon nap, I sleep much better at night.

I weigh 194lbs now.  My pre-pregnancy weight was 177 (7lbs over my pre-pregnancy weight for Noelle), and then I went down to 173 when the hyperemesis gravidarum got bad but if you count from my starting weight, that's only 17lbs. If you count from 173, it's 21.  Either way, it's much better than with Noelle.  I think I was onto like 40 at this point with her.  Idk.  I went up to 55lbs with her, and then lost 5 lbs the last couple weeks of the pregnancy because I started walking a lot to induce labor, started teaching, and also started throwing up more frequently because i had no more room in my stomach.  In any case, my weight gain is GOOD, though I think I'd rather have terrible weight gain and feel better :-P.

The baby weighs between 5 and 6 lbs according to my midwife.  I feel that this is really big, but she says it's right on target and doesn't think he'll get as large as Noelle got.  She also says his head is not just down, but far down into my pelvis.

As I stated earlier, I seem to continue to need to eat low carbs, except I've added lots of watermelon, cherries, and strawberries.

Seltzer water has been making me gassy.  It's a double-edged sword.  I can stomach it better than plain water, but it doesn't always help.  So, if I drink it, I get more fluids down but have gas which is sometimes painful, if I drink regular water, I don't feel so well when it goes down and I don't drink as much, but I feel better later.

The baby's started getting hiccups regularly again.  They'd stopped for like a month or two there.

I'm finally able to start working on his room.  We painted over all the flowers on his dresser (formerly his sister's dresser) which means I was able to start sorting through his clothes.  It won't take much more to get the nursery all ready for him--a carpet clean, pulling up all the baby gear from the basement, and sewing some curtains, the latter of which I plan on doing this weekend.  We'll probably buy another shelf for his closet, too. 

29 Weeks

I'm starting to get lower backaches

There is noticeable cramping/Braxton Hicks when I exert myself. 

Lots of dairy this week (minus milk)

I'm getting true morning sickness--it's worse in the morning but it seems to be a reaction to the Zantac--like it's making my insides burn.  However, I'm also sick if I don't take the Zantac. 

28 weeks

I'm getting a lot more little cramps and aches this week.  

I get Braxton Hicks contractions when I get up from laying down or when I have a lot of activity or stress. 

I feel badly in th emorning for 1-2 (even 3) hours after taking Zantac.

Some days I feel badly in the afternoon for 2-3 hours before I have to take it again.

Maalox helps a little bit but tastes terrible. 

I can drink juice with no carbonation this week. 

I'm getting lots of painful/uncomfortable kicks/baby movement.

I already feel like there is no more room for this baby.  He's growing up into my chest rather than out. 

Foods this week:  Broccoli, cottage cheese, applesauce, chicken sandwich.

23 weeks

Still a name dilemma

There has been more vomiting this week.

He starts wiggling right when I start eating these days. 

I've been peeing a lot. 

I discovered that drinking sparkling water calms my stomach and helps me to get my liquids in.

I think I've been getting a couple of random Braxton Hicks. They feel differently than they did with Noelle because with her it felt like soft, menstrual cramps.  With him, I just feel my uterus hardening.

I'm still pretty snotty and congested without actually being sick.  

The baby is very active and has LOTS of hiccups.